Homemade Vegan Donuts
After our theme week started with plant-based chili cheese nuggets, we will get to the sweet stuff today! It's exactly this constant change between sweet and savory and again savory and sweet which we love. However, one thing doesn't change to yesterday's recipe: we're going to deep-fry once more! This time vegan donuts end up in the hot oil, which we will decorate with pink icing and colorful sprinkles.
Our copycat recipe is of course inspired by Dunkin' Donuts. Usually, the yeast dough is prepared with milk, butter, and eggs. We replaced these ingredients quite simply with plant-based milk, vegan butter, and actually don't even need an egg substitute for this recipe. The yeast dough can be prepared the day before – the longer it rests and rises, the better the result! For this recipe you should plan a little more time. After the dough has risen, six equal-sized balls are formed and shaped. You always have to turn the outsides inward when kneading to make sure that there are no cracks on the surface of the dough. What we want instead is a smooth surface. Wo worries, this sounds more complicated than it is. Just search for a video on the topic and you'll see how easily it works.
After this step, you only need to cut out tiny holes in the center of the dough balls to get the typical donut shape. We used a small shot glass for this (3 cm/1.2 inches in diameter), the rim of which we floured a bit beforehand to make sure that it wouldn't stick to the dough. Once the donuts have risen for a second time, it's FINALLY time to deep-fry them. Afterwards we garnished our donuts with a pink icing and sugar sprinkles. Unfortunately, vegan sprinkles and red food coloring can't be found that often, so look out for them in organic stores or online. If you can't get them, you can also get creative and garnish your donuts with other toppings such as chocolate or a cinnamon sugar mixture. Feel free to write us in the comments below what you decided to use or send us pictures of your creations. We are so excited and looking forward to it!
Homemade Vegan Donuts
Ingredients
For the yeast dough:
- 50 g (1.75 oz) vegan butter (at room temperature)
- 125 ml (0.5 cup) plant-based milk
- 4 g (2 tsp) active dry yeast
- 50 g (0.25 cup) sugar
- 250 g (2 cups) wheat flour type 405
- salt
For frying:
- 1 l (4 cups) neutral canola or sunflower oil
For the glaze:
- powdered sugar
- plant-based milk
- red food coloring
- vegan sprinkles
Instructions
Before starting with the yeast dough, remove the vegan butter from the fridge to warm it up to room temperature. Heat the plant-based milk until it's lukewarm, then add it to a bowl. Stir in active dry yeast and sugar, then let the mixture sit for approx. 10 minutes.
Add the milk mixture to a bowl or stand mixer and add the flour little by little while kneading the ingredients at slow speed. Add the softened vegan butter and a pinch of salt, and knead the dough for approx. 8-10 minutes on medium speed until it's smooth.
Cover the bowl with a damp clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for approx. 60 minutes. Afterwards, transfer the bowl to your fridge and let the dough rise for another 30-60 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into six equal portions (about 75 g / 2.66 oz each). Form each part of the dough into a ball, then cut out small circles in the center to create the typical donut shape. Cover the dough once more and let the donuts rise in a warm place for 30-60 minutes.
Heat a pot with vegetable oil for deep-frying until the oil reaches a temperature of 170°C/340°F. Deep-fry the donuts in batches, but make sure to never fry them for more than 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the donuts from the pot and drain them on a wire rack – do not use paper towels for this step as this will only make the donuts soak up oil.
Mix powdered sugar with some plant-based milk until you get a thick glaze. Add as much red food coloring as desired until the glaze turns pink. Dip the donuts into the glaze, and garnish them with colorful sprinkles. Serve the donuts the same day.
